Hadi Partovi is the founder and CEO of Code.org . He also founded Tellme Networks and ILike, held leadership roles at Microsoft and Myspace, and angel invested in a number of incredible companies, including Facebook, DropBox, Airbnb, and Uber. Hadi and Auren discuss making computer science as part of the core curriculum in public education. Hadi explains the importance of learning basic computer science and explores how AI will change software development and education. Hadi also shares insights...
Jun 20, 2023•46 min•Ep 98•Transcript available on Metacast David Sinclair is a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School and the founder of the Sinclair Lab. He’s the author of the bestselling book Lifespan: Why We Age—and Why We Don’t Have To , as well as a founder of several biotech companies. Auren and David discuss the potential to expand the average human lifespan by decades. David challenges traditional notions of aging and emphasizes the need to embrace new technologies. They also discuss the benefits and drawbacks of common anti-aging prac...
Jun 13, 2023•45 min•Ep 97•Transcript available on Metacast Matt Kaminski is the Editor in Chief of Politico and the founding editor of Politico Europe . Auren and Matt discuss the challenges of restoring trust in journalism and navigating politics in the digital age. Matt highlights the complicated nuances of getting a story right, the role of bias in journalism, and the need to protect free speech. He also discusses how Politico approached breaking the story of the leaked decision in the Supreme Court’s Dobbs case. Matt and Auren also explore the evolv...
Jun 06, 2023•52 min•Ep 96•Transcript available on Metacast Marissa Mayer was the CEO of Yahoo and the 20th employee at Google, where she held key leadership roles in major Google products including Search, Maps, and Gmail. She’s currently the co-founder and CEO of Sunshine . Marissa and Auren discuss the unexpected turn AI has taken towards creativity and expression, and its impact on coding and software engineering. They also explore how AI can improve software engineering and potentially affect the business models of tech giants like Google. Marissa s...
May 30, 2023•53 min•Ep 95•Transcript available on Metacast Tom Tugendhat is the UK’s Minister of State for Security and a British Member of Parliament. He was previously the chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in Parliament, and before that he served multiple tours in the British Army in Iraq and Afghanistan. Auren and Tom discuss the role of the UK's Minister of State for Security and Tom’s work with cybersecurity, intelligence gathering, and defense. Tom highlights some of the most overlooked factors in security and what government and priv...
May 23, 2023•40 min•Ep 94•Transcript available on Metacast Jack Abraham is the founder of Atomic , a startup studio that has launched several dozen companies including Hims & Hers , Openstore , and Bungalow . Before starting Atomic, Jack co-founded Milo, which he sold to eBay. Auren and Jack discuss how the studio fund model works and what’s allowed Atomic to be successful in a space where many other studios have failed. Jack breaks down the process of finding scalable ideas and deciding which ones to allocate resources to. Auren and Jack also dive ...
May 16, 2023•50 min•Ep 93•Transcript available on Metacast Will Manidis is the CEO and founder of ScienceIO, which builds data solutions for health care. He was previously a managing partner at Dorm Room Fund, and a Thiel Fellow. Auren and Will discuss American dynamism and the future of knowledge work. Will breaks down his view that technology has not improved our lives as much as it should have. He explains how the nature of platform shifts have accelerated tech earnings over the last decade, but kept actual progress low. Will and Auren also do a deep...
May 09, 2023•37 min•Ep 92•Transcript available on Metacast Avlok Kohli is the CEO of AngelList and the founder of FastBite and Fairy. Auren and Avlok discuss the underestimated impact of AI and how it could be creating a tech mega cycle. Avlok explains the importance of unique data as a moat for companies building on top of large language models, and how this technology can disrupt incumbents. They also discuss the rise of Dual Threat CEOs and their outsized success in early stage venture capital. Avlok makes the case for why more current operators shou...
May 02, 2023•57 min•Ep 91•Transcript available on Metacast Elad Gil is a prolific angel investor and advisor whose early investments include AirBnb, Coinbase, Pinterest, Stripe, and Square. He’s also the founder of Color Health and author of the bestselling book High Growth Handbook . Elad and Auren discuss the challenges and opportunities for startups in the emerging AI technology landscape, particularly in comparison to incumbent companies. Elad breaks down what he’s learned as an angel investor and provides some non-generic advice for making good ear...
Apr 25, 2023•54 min•Ep 90•Transcript available on Metacast Johnathan Bi is the host of a fantastic seven-part lecture series on the work of philosopher René Girard. He’s also a member of the founding team at Opto Investments. Auren and Johnathan discuss some of the fundamental concepts in Girard’s philosophy and how they apply to startups, venture capital, and life more broadly. They break down physical vs metaphysical desire, the power of self-delusion, and Girard's concept of zero-sum and negative-sum human interactions. Johnathan explains what t...
Apr 18, 2023•58 min•Ep 89•Transcript available on Metacast Nicole Perlroth was the New York Times’ lead cybersecurity reporter for over a decade. She’s an advisor to the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity Advisory Committee and the author of the bestselling book This Is How They Tell Me The World Ends . Auren and Nicole discuss the global cyber landscape— which countries have the strongest hacking capabilities, how Ukraine has changed cyber warfare, and where the US stacks up against its adversaries. Nicole also shares insights on personal ...
Apr 11, 2023•55 min•Ep 88•Transcript available on Metacast Sigal Mandelker served as Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence from 2017 to 2019. She’s currently a general partner at Ribbit Capital, which invests in fintech companies. Sigal and Auren discuss how sanctions actually work and what makes them effective. Sigal explains how the US’s role in the global financial system could change as new financial technology evolves. They also discuss how the government should work with the private sector, why crypto regulation ...
Apr 04, 2023•47 min•Ep 87•Transcript available on Metacast Jonathan Greenblatt is the CEO of the Anti-Defamation League. Prior to leading the ADL, he was the founder of Ethos Brands, VP of Global Consumer Products at Starbucks, and Director of the Office of Social Innovation during the Obama administration. Auren and Jonathan discuss the role of technology in amplifying hate and extremism in society, and what tech companies and regulators should do about it. Jonathan breaks down how Section 230 could be reformed and how tech companies should approach mo...
Mar 28, 2023•56 min•Ep 86•Transcript available on Metacast Dr. Jonathan Levin is the Dean of the Stanford Graduate School of Business. He’s the winner of the 2011 John Bates Medal, and an expert in market design, game theory, and industrial organization. Auren and Jon discuss how Stanford GSB, one of the most selective schools in the world, thinks about finding talent. Jon breaks down the non-obvious ways universities foster innovation, and how that path of research differs from the private sector. They also discuss whether or not hedge fund managers ar...
Mar 21, 2023•55 min•Ep 85•Transcript available on Metacast Dr. Nir Barzilai discovered the first “longevity gene” in humans and pioneered key research around the biology of aging. He’s the founding director of the Institute for Aging Research at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York and the author of the book Age Later . Nir and Auren discuss the most promising studies and treatments in the field of anti-aging research and break down the major takeaways from Nir’s seminal studies on centenarians— why they live longer, and what the rest of ...
Mar 14, 2023•53 min•Ep 84•Transcript available on Metacast Tony is a retired 4-star US Army General and was the commander of the US Special Operations Command from 2016 to 2019. During his 35-year military career, he played a key role in numerous high-profile operations, including the mission that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden. He’s currently a partner at Lux Capital. Auren and Tony discuss what we’ve learned from the war in Ukraine and which countries are the strategic winners and losers of the conflict. Tony has a clear, nuanced view of Rus...
Mar 07, 2023•49 min•Ep 83•Transcript available on Metacast Auren and Megan discuss some of the less obvious factors that contributed to the superheated economy of the last decade. Megan breaks down how she thinks about monopolies in the tech sector and explains one of the most misunderstood things about markets. Megan also shares some of her insights on politics and culture. She explains how one of the most popular negotiation techniques in politics almost never works, how companies should think about cancellation mobs, and why there’s no point having a...
Feb 28, 2023•1 hr 7 min•Ep 82•Transcript available on Metacast Jaan Tallinn is one of the founding engineers of Skype and the file-sharing service Kazaa. He’s also a co-founder of the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk and the Future of Life Institute. Auren and Jaan discuss the trajectory of artificial intelligence and the existential risks it could present to humanity. Jann talks about the prevailing attitudes towards risk in AI research and what needs to change in order get aligned, safe AI. Jaan and Auren also talk about how Jaan’s native Estonia ...
Feb 20, 2023•27 min•Ep 81•Transcript available on Metacast Baroness Dido Harding has held high-level leadership roles in the UK’s National Health Service and in the private sector, at companies like TalkTalk, Tesco, and Thomas Cook. She was executive chair of the NHS’s COVID-19 Test and Trace effort. Dido and Auren break down what we’ve learned about data and public health during the pandemic. Dido explains how publicly accessible data helped leaders and the general public make decisions, and outlines what we should be doing to prepare for the next pand...
Feb 14, 2023•45 min•Ep 80•Transcript available on Metacast Oren Etzioni was the founding CEO of the Allen Institute for AI, or AI2. He’s founded multiple companies that had successful exits, and he’s a professor emeritus at the University of Washington. Oren Etzioni and host Auren Hoffman discuss Oren’s criteria for artificial general intelligence and what signs he’s looking for to indicate that AGI is about to emerge. They talk about major issues in AI research right now, including the cost of compute, accessing data, and adversarial versus collaborati...
Feb 07, 2023•39 min•Ep 79•Transcript available on Metacast Vivek Ramaswamy is an entrepreneur, investor and author. He founded Roivant Sciences in 2014 and Strive Asset Management in 2021. He’s also the author of the bestselling books Woke Inc. and Nation of Victims. Auren and Vivek discuss how CEOs and leaders should think about ideology in the workplace— both their own and their employees’. Vivek breaks down the history of the ESG movement and pulls back the veil on two companies that have massive, little-understood power over the public markets— prox...
Jan 31, 2023•39 min•Ep 78•Transcript available on Metacast David is a co-founder and partner at Craft Ventures, one of the foremost SaaS VCs. He was the former COO at Paypal and he’s invested in over 20 unicorns, including AirBnB, Facebook, Palantir, Uber, and SpaceX. David and Auren discuss the state of SaaS in 2023 and consider how layoffs, seat contraction, and the broader macro environment could affect the ecosystem this year. David shares some advice on how companies should be positioning themselves to weather the downturn. They also talk about bub...
Jan 24, 2023•50 min•Ep 77•Transcript available on Metacast Bret Stephens is a foreign affairs columnist at the New York Times and author of America in Retreat: The New Isolationism and the Coming Global Disorder. Auren and Bret discuss major takeaways from the war in Ukraine, and the US's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Bret offers predictions about the future of warfare and weaponry, and explains what the US will have to do to remain the preeminent global power through the next decade. They also discuss cancel culture, decadence, and environmentalis...
Jan 17, 2023•58 min•Ep 76•Transcript available on Metacast Thani Shamsi is the co-founder and CEO of Datarade, a Berlin-based data commerce platform. Auren and Thani dive deep into the data market and discuss how it’s developed in comparison to SaaS. Thani shares his insights on how the most successful data companies drive sales and how expects the data space to evolve. World of DaaS is brought to you by SafeGraph. For more episodes, visit safegraph.com/podcasts. You can find Auren Hoffman on Twitter at @auren and Thani Shamsi on Twitter @ThaniShamsi....
Jan 10, 2023•41 min•Ep 75•Transcript available on Metacast Amit Bendov is a serial founder who’s scaled three unicorn software companies to massive exits. He’s currently the co-founder and CEO of Gong, an AI sales intelligence platform. Auren and Amit discuss the best practices for B2B sales, based on data Gong has collected from over a billion sales conversations. Amit breaks down how winning strategies have changed in the challenging macro environment. Auren and Amit also discuss the generational difference in startup founders and what’s made Israel t...
Jan 03, 2023•31 min•Ep 74•Transcript available on Metacast Eric Frank is the founder and CEO of LightBox, a GIS real estate data company. He’s also the creator of ADR.com and former president of the Investment & Advisory division at Thomson Reuters. Eric brings his perspective from financial services to analyze data adoption in the commercial real estate space. He outlines some non-obvious effects of COVID on the market and breaks down where real estate tech is headed. Eric and Auren also discuss building a business through acquisitions, and how Eri...
Dec 20, 2022•39 min•Ep 73•Transcript available on Metacast Bryan Mistele is the founder and CEO of INRIX, a leading provider of traffic data and analytics. Auren and Bryan discuss how vehicle technology is changing and when we can expect to see mass adoption of driverless cars in the US and around the world. Bryan breaks down which industries he expects will go autonomous first and how self-driving will affect total vehicle sales. Auren and Bryan also discuss the intricacies of operating a global data company and what better safety data could do for tra...
Dec 13, 2022•40 min•Ep 72•Transcript available on Metacast Sarah Bond is Corporate Vice President of Xbox’s Game Creator Experience & Ecosystem at Microsoft. Auren and Sarah discuss the future of gaming across platforms and where Sarah expects to see the most growth in the next few years. They break down the democratization of game development and what the growth of the creator economy could mean for the industry. Sarah also shares insights on how Microsoft transformed its culture to become a hyper successful acquirer and how she helped lead T-Mobil...
Dec 06, 2022•45 min•Ep 71•Transcript available on Metacast Richard Barlow is the CEO of Wejo, a publicly traded company that collects and analyzes connected vehicle data. Wejo gathers billions of data points a day from cars all over the world. Richard and Auren discuss the state of global connected vehicle data— what data points are out there right now, how many cars on the road are equipped with connected tech, and what new sensors could do in the future. Richard also explains how data sharing could help get autonomous vehicles to the next level and br...
Nov 29, 2022•22 min•Ep 70•Transcript available on Metacast Dimitri Dadiomov is the co-founder and CEO of Modern Treasury, a payment operations software company valued at over $2 billion. Auren and Dimitri discuss the future of crypto payments, innovation (or lack thereof) in the massive B2B payments space, and what Dimitri expects to change as more instant payment services come on line in the next few years. They also dive into culture and break down how Dimitri was able to gain traction and scale Modern Treasury to a $2 billion valuation in less than f...
Nov 22, 2022•39 min•Ep 69•Transcript available on Metacast 
